Rear seat delete options?

[SSLance]

I have finally decided to go forward with a 4 point roll bar installation in my car which will not only restrict access to the rear seat but will also necessitate major modifications to the rear seat bottom and seat back to work around the roll bar tubes.


Another option is to leave the rear seat out all together. My question for this thread is...if I chose the rear seat delete option, what is the best way to finish that area off taking into consideration how nice the rest of my interior is, the color of the rest of my interior, and the changes made to that part of the car already.


Here is what the rear seat pan looked like when I cleaned up and painted the interior floor pan of the car several years ago.





The factory jute that was behind the seat back was toast so I put a layer of closed cell foam in it's place which you can see in this picture from the trunk.





Then covered the inside of that foam with more raamat butyl sound deadener. This is what the back seat area looks like today under the rear seat.







Some of that sound deadener is going to have to come up to make room to weld in the roll bar mounting plates. The main hoop bars are going to weld onto the floor close to the B pillars which is several inches back from the carpet edge and the rear down bars will go through the sheet metal holes onto the trunk floor up above the axle.


There is really nice maroon carpet from the front edge of the rear seat forward and the rest of the interior is very nice. Here is a pic to give you an idea of how the rest looks.





There's been a few changes over the years since that was taken, Dakota Digital dash, aluminum shift plate cover and 6 speed shifter, and there will be black with grey insert front seats installed at the same time as the roll bar that look lke this.





So...that's the canvas I have to work with. What should I do to finish off the back seat area after the roll bar install? Build a sheet metal firewall to block off trunk is probably first order of business. But then do I just paint it black? Undercoat it? Find some black short pile carpet to line that area with? Try hard to find some maroon carpet that matches the front carpet to put down (this might be somewhat difficult). Pull up all of the raamat sound deadener? Line it all again with more sound deadener then cover with something else?

I like to think I'm pretty good with nuts and bolts type stuff, but I realize I'm limited in design vision when it comes to stuff like this...hence asking for help. The car interior is nice, it was very hard for me to make a decision to do this install and tear that up. Safety dictates that I do this though...I just want to try to do it as nicely as possibly without completely starting from scratch on the whole rest of the interior at the same time.

[HomeBuilt]

Lance, check out Scott Rod Fabrication. Maybe they can offer you some inspiration even if they don't have a piece that fits your vehicle? Or maybe something you could trim to fit? Just an idea...

[SSLance]

Hmmm, interesting. They have this rear seat delete kit for G-Bodies.



It's made out of aluminum though which has a couple of issues for me. One, I am not set up to weld aluminum and two, shouldn't firewall material be made out of steel, not aluminum?

It does give me an idea of what a kit would look like though, thanks.

[SSLance]

I have found that I can get carpet in a flat roll 72" wide to match the rest of my carpet.

The plan is starting to take shape for me, now I just have to find someone to do the tin work for me. Wonder if the cage builder does that as well...

[HomeBuilt]

Hmmm, interesting. They have this rear seat delete kit for G-Bodies.



It's made out of aluminum though which has a couple of issues for me. One, I am not set up to weld aluminum and two, shouldn't firewall material be made out of steel, not aluminum?

It does give me an idea of what a kit would look like though, thanks.

I'm not sure about the steel vs. aluminum, might depend on your sanctioning body but I know a friend of mine who races an STI with his rear seat deleted with an aluminum panel riveted in place. Keep us posted though!

[HotWired]

Who are you having do the roll bar?

[SSLance]

Charlie Clark at KC Raceware